Su, T., Ji, J., Huang, Q. et al. (1 more author) (2019) Materialism, social stratification, and ethics: evidence from SME owners in China. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 25 (3). pp. 499-517. ISSN 1355-2554
Abstract
Purpose
The study of business ethics has seldom shed light on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) despite their theoretical and practical significance. Drawing from strain perspective, the purpose of this paper is to address this insufficiency and investigate SME owners’ ethical attitudes toward money-related deviances. Design/methodology/approach
Based on a large sample of 741 Chinese SMEs, an OLS regression analysis was employed to test associated hypotheses. The robustness of results was additionally checked. Findings
The results suggest that for stratification variables, education level is positively related to ethical attitudes, whereas household income level is surprisingly negatively associated with ethical attitudes; for materialism facets, success and happiness exert a negative impact on ethical attitudes as hypothesized, but centrality has no associated impact. Research limitations/implications
This study has examined both structural and motivational sources of personal strains on the ethical attitude of SME owners, while the characteristics of these strains could be explored in the future studies. Originality/value
This study advances and complements the dominant behavior approach that emphasizes cognitive and other psychological processes in explaining individual ethical attitudes. It is also seemingly the first study to examine the influence of three materialism facets on entrepreneurial ethical attitudes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Entrepreneurs; SMEs; Motivation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 11 Jul 2018 13:26 |
Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2020 12:17 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Emerald |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1108/IJEBR-11-2017-0435 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:133007 |